Motivation:
A
barefoot horse is capable of performing all the tasks that could
be expected of a horse, without requiring any kind of protection
of the hoof, PROVIDED that the hoof has not been weakened or
deformed by the actions of man through unnatural treatment and
living conditions. When looking at literature dealing with hooves,
the one constant reference is the damaging effect of shoes. For
about 200 years, the ill effects of shoeing have been increasingly
documented. The textbook written by I.C. Gross, teacher of shoeing
at the Royal Veterinary School of Stuttgart, clearly states in the
preface that "the question of whether shoeing is the means by
which to keep hooves sound, is to answered in the negative."
The
fact that two of the main causes of the reduced life expectancy of
domestic horses (in Europe, about 1/3 of the natural lifespan) are
hoof and leg problems is disturbing and should be cause for
research.
Scientific Publications:
That hooves are as hard and resistant to wear as the ground to
which they become accustomed is ancient knowledge already put into
writing 2400 years ago by Xenophon, military leader of the Greek
cavalry. The argument that "our trails are so rocky, the hooves
wear down too much" is thus made invalid, since it is not the
hoof, but the living conditions of the horse that cause the
problem. Xenophon's observations have been proved many thousands
of times over; in more recent times (1986), Alexander and Colles
once again reminded the riding and veterinary community of this
truth with their article "Shoeing--an unnecessary evil" in the
American Equine Veterinary Journal.
Bracy Clark, scientist at the London Veterinary College around
1800, found out that every shoe, no matter how correctly applied,
inevitably forces the hoof to contract from year to year. He
moreover lamented the fact that the books on equine anatomy
portrayed these deformed, contracted hooves as sound hooves, since
his veterinary colleagues obviously studied only the (sick) hooves
of their patients not sound hooves. This problem, unfortunately,
is still largely present today: there is rarely a hoof shown in
veterinary or farrier textbooks which is not a contracted hoof,
yet described as a normal, sound foot.
DVM
Zierold, under Professor Lungwitz in 1910, examined and compared
the corium of shod and never shod horses, and found significant
differences in structure, in that the corium of a shod horse is of
a quality which makes the connection to the hoof capsule less
stable (a factor in laminitis, for example).
Luca Bein, in his 1983 dissertation in Zurich, measured the shock
absorption of barefoot, shod, and alternately shod horses. He
concluded that a conventionally shod horse shows an absence of
60-80% of the hoof's natural shock absorption. He demonstrated
that "a shod foot on asphalt at a walk receives THREE TIMES the
impact force as an unshod horse on asphalt at the trot." Bein also
found that a shoe vibrates at about 800 Hz, damaging living
tissue. Dr. C.C. Pollit, at the University of Queensland,
Australia, showed in his 1993 study of circulation in the hoof
that a shod hoof is not supplied with blood in the normal fashion,
but through an alternate route.
Professor Smedegards' publications make clear that shoeing
prevents the hoof mechanism from working, if for no other reason
that the horse is forced to walk unnaturally (the whole hoof
impacts the ground at the same time, and the horse cannot break
over naturally). A normal hoof contacts the ground first at the
rear and side, then breaks over.
So
from various sources throughout history, we can see it is known
that:
1.
Shoeing causes the foot to become contracted (Clark)
2.
Shoeing causes a deviance of the normal laminae structure (Zierold)
3.
The impact forces with each shod step are much greater, and the
vibration of the shoe is damaging (Bein)
4.
Circulation is decreased through shoeing (Pollitt)
5.
The side walls, at the widest part of the hoof, have to be able to
move outward (Smedegard)
All
these are veterinary professionals, though there are many other
scientists who have added interesting dissertations to this topic.
Personal Observations:
"Hoof mechanism" is the term given to the movement of the hoof
capsule. It has long been known and measured that, when
weightbearing, the downward force of the skeleton on the front
wall of the hoof capsule forces the coronet band, at its highest
point, to sink downward and inward. This illustration is well
known and accepted.
However, the downward-inward movement of the coronet band is
possible only if the neighboring side walls can move outwards, or
can sink into soft ground. This movement is coupled with the
flattening of the concave sole, which makes room for the
descending coffin bone. This way, the solar corium is not bruised
but rather is relaxed, and the capillaries in the sole and wall
fill with blood. It is also known, and clearly illustratable
(through infrared photography) that shod feet are cool, whereas
unshod feet are warm.
This means that, at the widest part of the hoof (not only in the
area of the heel), a considerable expansion of the hoof capsule
takes place upon weightbearing. The wall expands NOT ONLY in the
rearmost third of the hoof, as shown in many textbooks. Elementary
Pythagorean geometry supports this. For a normal Warmblood, the
concave sole must sink down about 1cm, which necessitates an
expansion of the wall of about 1mm to each side. At higher speeds,
the bulb of the heel contacts the ground first, which adds to the
widening of the foot. Repeatedly, expansion of up to 4mm to each
side has been found through live "prints" at the trot and canter.
A
shod hoof is unable to expand as necessary, the concave sole
cannot draw flat, and the solar corium is bruised as a result.
When trimming such hooves, these bruises become visible. To get
back to L. Bein's findings on shock absorption. The expansion of
the hoof capsule complete with the flattening of the sole absorb
up to 80% of the impact force. In terms of physics, this is
conversion of energy through reversible deformation.
The
consequences of the lack of up to 80% of shock absorption are
widely known as arthritis, tendonitis, etc. The damage done is all
the greater when the horse is young, and the still-developing
coffin bone is handicapped in its development to proper size
through shoeing. Shoeing a horse under 3 (or even 2) years results
in crippled and deformed coffin bones and steep, contracted
hooves.
The
negative effect of shoes on joints and tendons is increased
through stresses during motion, i.e. the weight of the shoe
stressing the joint and tendon through centripetal force. The
heavier the shoe, the greater this force.
The
contracting effect of shoes increases from day to day, since the
hoof grows continually, not straight down but in a conical shape.
The hoof grows in width, but the shoe does not; after a month, the
hoof grew by 1 cm, in length and width; with a shoe, only in
length, forcing a constriction of the corium.
That a horse with such damage is still able to walk is due largely
to the fact that the nerves have mostly become nonfunctional. As
soon as the shoes are removed, circulation begins to return, and
after a while the nerves "come back to life." So the damage will
be present for years before the horse goes lame (due to
inflammation, which brings circulation, and as such nerve
activity).
The
lack of circulation grows more severe with lack of movement. A
shod horse which is worked all day tilling the field, for example,
has better circulation than a shod horse standing in a box stall
and ridden an hour a week.
With a reduction of circulation, metabolism at a cellular level is
also adversely affected. Excess protein is not used in the
building of tissue (i.e. horn) but builds up in the organism
(laminitis, etc.)
The
results of vibration have not yet been studied in horses. In human
medicine, comparable effects exist in people working with
vibrating tools such as saws, etc. Raynaud's Syndrome, a condition
showing alteration in blood vessels, is one of the problems
associated with vibration. Laminitic horses show comparable
alterations in their blood vessels, so vibration of shoes may be a
factor in this.
Shoes change the way the horse's foot meets the ground. On soft
ground, into which they sink, they have a stronger than normal
breaking action; on rock, asphalt and ice, they slip unnaturally.
These unnatural actions have to be compensated for by muscles and
ligaments, and can eventually lead to shoulder and hip problems.
Logic would tell us that it is nonsensical to treat the symptoms
without removing the cause.
A
reduction of the damaging effects is found in horses whose hooves
are regularly exposed to water, so that the horn can at least
retain its elasticity. This explains to a great deal the seemingly
problem-free, long period in which a horse may be ridden while
shod: highly active lifestyle in a wet climate.
Today, many hooves are brittle and dried out to the point of
having lost their natural elasticity, which can lead to shock
absorption and circulatory reduction.
There are no statistics about lasting damage from the kicks of
shod horses; certain is that many people would be alive if the
horse's hoof which caught them in the head had not been shod.
Orthopedic shoes are heavier, more tightly attached, and the
already damaging effects are magnified on an ill foot. Pressure on
the frog or the sole causes a steepening of the coffin bone
through the horse's attempt to evade the painful pressure. The
result is that the angle between coffin bone and middle phalanx
decreases. The digital arteries are squeezed shut just outside the
coffin bone. This gives a good deal of relief from pain, since the
nerves are prevented from working, but healing is obviously not
a
consequence of this situation. This is especially true of the
wedge pads.
A
lesser, but still existent evil is the damaging effect of nails,
vibrating inside the horn capsule.
EFFECTS OF "PROPER" SHOEING:
1.
CONTRACTED HOOVES - the hoof meets the ground in a different way,
since the horse is trying to evade the pain in the heel area;
leads to muscle, tendon, and joint problems
2.
BRUISING OF CORIUM - leads to lack of circulation, changes in
metabolism leading to decreased horn formation and poor quality of
horn, problems in the laminae, lack of sensation in the sole
leading to tripping, etc., suspected problems in the metabolic
rate of organs
3.
INCREASED IMPACT FORCES - lead to bruising, tearing, strains with
morphological changes in the corium, the hoof cartilage and
joints, tendons, even hoof cancer
4.
VIBRATION - leads to similar damages as in humans (vascular
changes; Raynaud's disease)
5.
WEIGHT OF SHOES - puts strain on the joint capsules and leads to
periostosis, arthritis, and increased damage on injury
6.
CHANGE IN IMPACT - unnatural mechanics lead to muscle and tendon
damage
7.
NAIL HOLES - destroy the horn wall and decrease elasticity
8.
METABOLISM DISRUPTIONS - lead to organic damage
In
every case, shoeing presents unnecessary harm to the
horse--unnecessary, if the horse's biological needs are met.
